This intensive programme will enable you to delve deeper into the structure of the English language’s phonology, syntax and semantics and modern and historical development.
The MSc can function either as a stand-alone masters qualification or as a basis for further postgraduate study, typically at PhD level.
Joining an internationally acclaimed centre for research and teaching in the linguistic study of English, you will explore in depth a global language with a rich history and great social and geographical variation.
You will be taught by world-leading experts who will give you a detailed awareness of the ways in which English is used in Britain and around the world.
This programme comprises two semesters of taught courses, followed by a dissertation.
The programme focuses initially on the structure of English, and also offers option courses on aspects of the history of English, on current varieties of the language and on a good number of approaches to the study of the language and English linguistics.
Compulsory courses:
Optional courses:
You can also choose optional courses from a wide range of other areas of linguistic study. You may be able to take a course from other degree programmes in the School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, and in some cases, from elsewhere in the University.
The programme has been designed to help you progress your career as an English language specialist in academia. The analytical skills you develop and the research training you receive will be valuable in a wide range of careers.
This degree will give you a good grounding in major topics in linguistics – the study of how language is structured, represented in the mind and interpreted – and phonetics, the study of how speech sounds are physically produced.
Core modules will introduce you to key aspects of the discipline, such as syntax, phonetics and phonology. You’ll also develop your knowledge of research methods within and outside of the lab. You’ll then choose from optional modules to suit your interests or career plans, such as language acquisition or sociolinguistics.
Spanning the arts and sciences, linguistics is a challenging and rewarding discipline that allows you to gain a real understanding of human communication as well as a wide range of transferable skills. Taught by experts in top-class facilities and supported by the Language at Leeds research network, this programme will give you a good foundation in the subject informed by the very latest research.
Specialist resources
Leeds is a fantastic place to study linguistics and phonetics. Our tutors and research students are active members of the wider Language at Leeds network which brings together researchers from across the University. You’ll be able to enhance your learning with an array of research events throughout the year.
Postgraduates also have access to our extensive facilities, including the Human Communications Suite complete with a recording studio and lab space for psycholinguistics experiments. You can make use of our phonetics lab and the Language Zone, a state-of-the-art space where you can use a range of language-based teaching materials whenever you want.
This programme is suitable for people who have no prior knowledge of linguistics, or those who may have studied some during their first degree. However, if you do have a substantial background in linguistics or phonetics, you may prefer to study for an MA by Research.
This programme is also available to study part-time over 24 months.
Core modules will allow you to develop your knowledge of key aspects of linguistics and phonetics. You’ll study introductory modules in syntax and phonetics and phonology in Semester One, which you’ll build on in more advanced modules in the following semester. You’ll also take core modules to develop your academic and research skills in linguistics.
In addition, you’ll expand your understanding of areas that suit your interests when you choose from optional modules on topics such as pragmatics, sociolinguistics and language acquisition. By the end of the programme, you’ll be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge you’ve gained when you complete an independently researched dissertation on a linguistics topic of your choice.
If you choose to study part-time, you’ll take fewer modules in each year so you can study over a longer period.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
For more information on typical modules, read Linguistics MA Full Time in the course catalogue
For more information on typical modules, read Linguistics MA Part Time in the course catalogue
We use diverse teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from our tutors’ expertise. They include seminars, lectures, online learning, tutorials and practicals. Independent study is also a vital element of the course. You’re also encouraged to sit in on classes in modules that you’re not taking, giving you a great opportunity to gain a broad base of knowledge in linguistics and phonetics.
Depending on the modules you choose, assessment methods will vary. However, they usually include coursework , essays and practicals, while core linguistics modules also include exams.
This programme will give you a sophisticated understanding of human communication, as well as valuable transferable skills in areas such as use of quantitative and qualitative data, research, interpretation, oral and written communication and analysis which are highly attractive to employers in a wide range of industries.
Graduates have pursued diverse careers as a result, in areas such as lexicography, journalism, editing, advertising, language education an even artificial intelligence. Many also pursue PhD level study and continue with research into linguistics, or further training in disciplines such as speech and language therapy.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
This unique programme bridges the gap between linguistic theory and language teaching practice to enable you to develop a career in language teaching or research.
Whether you’re already a teacher or you plan to become one, this degree offers you a deeper understanding of how language is structured, used and interpreted and how this can inform language teaching. Core modules will introduce you to key topics in linguistics such as syntax, phonetics and phonology, as well as teaching methodologies and how they are applied. You’ll also improve your knowledge of research methods in language sciences.
To enhance your knowledge, you’ll choose from optional modules to suit your career plans or interests, on topics such as language acquisition or sociolinguistics. With support from expert tutors within the Language at Leeds research network, you’ll gain valuable skills and a sound knowledge base to prepare you for further research or to inform your teaching practice.
Specialist resources
Leeds is a fantastic place to study linguistics and phonetics. Our tutors and research students are active members of the wider Language at Leeds network which brings together researchers from across the University. You’ll be able to enhance your learning with an array of research events throughout the year.
Postgraduates also have access to our extensive facilities, including the Human Communications Suite complete with a recording studio and lab space for psycholinguistics experiments. You can make use of our phonetics lab and the Language Zone, a state-of-the-art space where you can use a range of language-based teaching materials whenever you want.
This is an academic programme which approaches English language teaching from the perspective of linguistics, and it is therefore not intended for those who are seeking vocational teacher training or classroom experience.
This programme is also available to study part-time over 24 months.
Core modules in your first semester will give you a good grounding in key topics and approaches in linguistics, introducing you to syntax, phonetics, phonology and language acquisition. You’ll also develop the skills you need to study linguistics effectively.
In the following semester you’ll build on this foundation, improving your linguistic research skills while learning about language teaching methodologies and practices. You’ll also choose from optional modules to focus on topics that interest you, such as pragmatics and language development.
Throughout this programme you’ll develop sophisticated research and analytical skills, as well as a wealth of subject knowledge and teaching techniques. You’ll demonstrate this in your dissertation, where you’ll independently research a topic of your choice and submit the finished product by the end of the programme in September.
If you choose to study part-time, you’ll study over a longer period and take fewer modules in each year.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
We use diverse teaching and learning methods to help you benefit from our tutors’ expertise. They include seminars, lectures, online learning, tutorials and practicals. Independent study is also a vital element of the course. You’re also encouraged to sit in on classes in modules that you’re not taking, which gives you a great opportunity to gain a broad base of knowledge in linguistics and phonetics.
Depending on the modules you choose, assessment methods will vary. However, they usually include coursework , essays and practicals, while core linguistics modules also include exams.
This programme will equip you with a deeper understanding of human communication and how language is taught and learned. It will also give you high-level research and analysis skills that are valued in all kinds of industries and organisations.
Graduates have pursued a wide range of careers in fields such as language teaching, preparing language teaching materials, lexicography, editing work, the media, marketing and journalism. Many others have pursued PhD level study in fields such as applied linguistics and education.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
This programme will give a comprehensive grounding in the theory and practice of phonetics. Students will learn the core phonetic topics of speech production, speech acoustics, and speech perception, and will learn how phonetics relates to many other language-related disciplines.
The programme has a strong practical emphasis. It is designed primarily for graduates wishing to continue studying phonetics at PhD level, and for those wishing to use phonetics as a tool for investigation in related fields, e.g. historical linguistics, phonology, developmental linguistics, psychology, speech technology, etc.
The taught MSc in Phonetics will provide students with an intensive grounding in phonetics and related disciplines, its methodologies, research questions, and techniques of research.
Students will take options from a wide range of courses offered in Linguistics & English Language and related subject areas, and will write a dissertation project.
All students will be required to take two core courses in Phonetics and one core course in Statistics. Those students who do not have a strong background in phonetics and phonology may also be required to take an introductory course in Phonology & Phonetics.
Courses will include lectures, tutorials, and lab practicals.
Assessment is by coursework, project, and/or exams and a dissertation project.
At the dissertation stage, students are assigned a supervisor with whom they meet to plan their reading and to discuss their work.
The taught MSc in Phonetics will give students all of the intellectual and practical skills to engage in phonetics research, either for its own sake, or as part of research in another sub-area of linguistics, speech technology, or speech pathology.
Students graduating from our programme will understand basic anatomy and physiology of speaking and hearing, phonetic typology, current theories of phonetics and its relationship to phonology and other parts of grammar, and how to test these theories using empirical data.
We offer a strong focus on practical skills: students will learn how to elicit and collect phonetic data, the mechanisms involved in recording sound, how to measure and analyse acoustic and articulatory components of speech, how to create and analyse perceptual experiments, as well as core elements of scripting and statistical analysis.
This course is primarily as a conversion course for students looking to do serious postgraduate work in phonetics, speech pathology, speech processing, forensic linguistics or related fields.
Students will also receive training in practical skills, e.g. statistics and computational techniques, which could be relevant for a variety of different fields.
This MSc gives students all of the intellectual and practical skills to engage in linguistics research, either for its own sake, or as part of cross-disciplinary research.
Students graduating from our programme will understand how to analyse key data in syntax, semantics, phonology, and morphology, how to theorise such data, and how to exploit empirical methods to test their theories.
The key aims of the programme are to:
We offer a strong focus on theoretical understanding: students will learn how to analyse data in the context of current theoretical understanding of linguistic structure at all levels, drawing on the expertise of the department, which is particularly strong in theory development, and will be well placed to compare and evaluate competing proposals, both from within the same theoretical model, and from competing models. Additionally, students will acquire the necessary data-elicitation skills, and skills in naturally occurring data in corpora.
All of these skills provide a firm foundation for further PhD study, either in Linguistics or in a related discipline that makes heavy use of core Linguistics (e.g. Developmental Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, etc.).
The programme is best suited to applicants whose academic background is in Linguistics, English Language, Philology or Cognitive Science.
The programme (a total of 180 credit points) requires students without a background in Linguistics to take the following five core courses totalling 50 credits:
Students with a background in Linguistics may be exempted from any or all of the courses at the Programme Director’s discretion.
Students will also need to choose, under the guidance of the programme director, additional course options (totalling 70 credits for students with no background) from an approved list of level 11 courses; students who are exempted from any of the courses listed will have to choose courses to ensure that their total number of credits excluding the dissertation comes to 120.
All students are expected to take Introduction to Language Research.
It is possible for students to take up to 20 credits of their optional courses from other MSc options offered within the School subject to the Programme Director’s approval.
All students will be required to write a dissertation of approximately 8,000-10,000 words.
Students graduating from this new programme will understand how contemporary research approaches the study of language.
Students will acquire and enhance the following professional/subject-specific/practical skills:
